Ok, only answering one part of your questions here.

In my opinion, in general, "dark" magic is magical practices and goals that skirt the edges of the "harm none" idea, or dive right over into "directly harm". That would include things that are manipulative, deceitful, or against the wishes of/without the knowledge of the target of the working.

This does NOT include protective spells worked for or on the behalf of children. Children are those who have not yet reached an age of reason, and the responsibility for their physical and emotional care rests with their parents and designated other adults. There is no set age of reason in my book, it seems to differ with each child when they are capable of reasoning and taking responsibility for themselves and their actions. I even know some "adults" I consider to not yet be of the age of reason, and treat them accordingly.

Alternatively, some folks consider dark magic to be any magic conducted with a sense of malice or intent to do harm directly or indirectly.

I think it may well be that "gray" covers the ground between purely altruistic "white" and purely malevolent "dark" magics, partaking in part of both ends of the spectrum. Dualistic thinking came in with Xtianity, we do not need to feel held to it in non-Xtian thinking.


Black Rose

This Topic was moved here from The Dark Side [move by] Penthesilea.